CAMPAIGNERS fear millions of tonnes of rock could be mined from a Gwent beauty spot if plans to redesignate land are given the go-ahead.

An area, known locally as the canyon, runs for around a mile from Brynithel, near Abertillery, to Pantygasseg, near Pontypool, and has been subjected to numerous planning applications since 2003 to mine 4.75 million tonnes of sandstone.

A bitterly-fought campaign in 2006 meant the application was turned down due to objection and access issues, but now Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen councils are considering earmarking parts within the canyon as a site suitable for extraction.

Plans by Torfaen council include earmarking the former Tirpentwys tip site suitable for sandstone extraction and Blaenau Gwent council is considering mining coal from slag heaps on a 51-acre part of the site in their Local Development Plans (LDPs).

The former tip used to be an opencast mining site in the 1960s, but since it closed trees have been planted and locals hail it as an example of how nature has healed the scars of the area’s mining past.

Hywel Clatworthy, who lives on the Brynithel side, said: “Where the rock was exposed for the open cast, it looks like a lunar landscape.

It is beautiful in its own way, and with the trees and a pond it is testament to where nature took over and should be left as it is.”

As well as being ruined for campers and walkers, Mr Clatworthy and other locals are worried extraction could see heavy traffic in the area, noise and dust pollution.

The situation is the latest chapter in a long-running saga that started in 2003, when Penpedairheol-based Peak Man Limited first applied to extract 4.75 million tonnes of sandstone from the 138-acre site.

Blaenau Gwent’s LDP notes it is a site of interest for nature conservation.

The local authority also states that its own plans can only go ahead if the larger development in Torfaen gains planning permission, creating an access road and starting the reclamation process.

Torfaen’s planning officer Norman Jones described the application as “in limbo”, saying the access road has proved a huge obstacle and there has been no movement in it since 2006.

Llanhilleth councillor Hedley McCarthy said: “We fought it in 2006 and we’ll fight any new plans now.”

Both LDPs are to be discussed by the council at a later date.